


Pumpkin

by whereismyface



Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Bickering, Feral Cats, Gen, Living Together, M/M, dan is not a cat person, rorschach is a cat person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 01:47:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14843262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whereismyface/pseuds/whereismyface
Summary: In which a three-legged cat adopts Rorschach and Dan.





	Pumpkin

It was dawn and Dan was alone in bed, waiting for Rorschach to come home. He was supposed to have been home an hour ago, but his activities were... unpredictable, and Dan was used to the fact that he was usually a little late. The one thing they had finally agreed on was that Rorschach had to shower before coming to bed. Dan listened out for the sound of running water, and was perturbed when instead he heard his kitchen cabinets and draws being slammed violently.

Dan grabbed his glasses. He grumbled at the thought of leaving the warmth and softness of his bed for the chill of early morning, but he had to stop Rorschach from trashing his kitchen. There were some things the man had never learned, and never would. He shuddered when his feet touched the cold wooden floor and quickly found his slippers and robe.

"Rorschach?" Dan called out. Rorschach didn't answer, so Dan made his way to the kitchen. "Rorschach, quit scavenging. If you're hungry I can make you something." 

"Not for me," Rorschach said, to Dan's confusion.

It took Dan's eyes a second to adjust from the dim blue glow of the hallway to the bright fluorescent glare of the kitchen. He realized Rorschach wasn't alone. There was a very mangy ginger cat circling him, rubbing against his pinstriped legs in a way that implied familiarity, or if not that then certainly tameness. It was odd, because this cat was definitely feral.

Dan examined the cat more closely. To say it was ugly would have been putting it nicely. It had a face so flat he was astonished it could breathe at all. Its ears and tail were stubby, its eyes were little more than slits of dull green, and its matted, patchy fur was the color of earwax. Yet by far the most striking feature of the wretched thing was its missing back right leg. Perhaps if Dan were more of a cat person its deformities would have endeared it to him, but cats killed birds, and Dan could not abide that.

The creature moved swiftly despite its disability, continuing its dance around Rorschach, who reached down and petted it. It yowled when he did so, and Rorschach made an affectionate noise in return.

"Any tuna left? Think Pumpkin would like."

Dan rubbed his eyes. He wondered if he was actually asleep. "Pumpkin?"

"Call her that because of color. First seen in alleyway few weeks ago. Followed me home this morning."

"That's probably because you smell like a dumpster full of rotting fish."

Rorschach rolled up his mask, brought his filthy old coat to his nose and sniffed it. "Smell fine, Daniel."

"Whatever."

"Tuna, Daniel."

Dan sighed. He was tired and starting to feel frustrated with the situation. "Look, you take a shower and I'll feed it." Sensing the need to preempt any discussion on the matter, he added, "But we're not keeping it."

"Her." Rorschach strode past Dan. "And we are."

"We'll see about that," Dan muttered when Rorschach had left earshot.

In Rorschach's absence, Pumpkin began to rub against Dan's legs, instantly covering his pajama pants in fur. Dan was annoyed and slightly disgusted. He hoped whatever had made the creature's fur so patchy wasn't contagious.Hearing water rush through the pipes improved his mood a little. He searched for tuna, but wasn't able to find any. There was some old chicken in the fridge he'd been meaning to throw out, so he gave that to Pumpkin instead, figuring her immune system could handle it. The cat chowed down like there was no tomorrow.

Rorschach emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist, too preoccupied with Pumpkin's welfare to have bothered dressing. Even with just the two of them there, this was as close as he ever got to walking around naked. He looked at the cat, who was eating from a small dish.

"See you fed her."

"Yeah, I gave her some chicken."

"Thank you."

Rorschach gave Dan a grateful hug, wrapping his arms tightly around the larger man and nuzzling his little black and white face into his chest. His skin was still wet from the shower, and god, he smelled good when he was clean. Dan was seriously considering pulling off Rorschach's towel and having his way with him right there on the kitchen table, but another yowl from Pumpkin instantly killed the mood. She'd finished her chicken.

Rorschach turned to the cat. "Did you like that?" The vigilante cooed. His gravelly voice had become high-pitched and saccharine.

Dan pinched himself. He definitely wasn't dreaming.

"Was it tasty?" Rorschach continued, using the same tone.

Pumpkin made a bloodthirsty, bloodcurdling sound.

"Think she's still hungry, Daniel."

Rorschach was looking at Pumpkin the way a parent looked at a new baby. He was utterly smitten with the mangy creature, and there was a hint of fierce protectiveness there. Dan decided it would be better not to rock the boat for now. There was still no way he'd agree to keeping her long-term, but a few days wouldn't hurt.

"There's nothing left. We'll have to go out." Dan glanced at the animal. "We should probably take her to the vet anyway."

A delighted pattern bloomed over Rorschach's mask. "Does this mean we're keeping her?"

"Uh, yeah. We're keeping her."

Well, it wasn't technically a lie. They were keeping her, just not for very long.


End file.
